Getting to Know East2West!
photo by Emmy Perez
Chances are you’re familiar with East2West, an immensely popular K-Pop cover dance group hailing from Montreal. Before the group took the KCON stage, a few of the members spoke with us about their endeavors and future plans as they neared the milestone of one million subscribers (which they have now reached!).
Q: For our readers who are getting the chance to know you for the first time, can you please give a little introduction about yourself?
A: We’re East2West, we’re a K-Pop dance cover group based in Montreal. We started off with doing our own show in Montreal, like a three hour show of K-Pop covers in Montreal. About five years ago we started our YouTube channel where we do covers and that’s where we are today.
Q: Which K-Pop choreography has been a favorite for the studio as a whole this year?
A: I think it’s different for everyone, but for me I really liked MOMOLAND[‘s “Bboom Bboom”]. I think it’s such a fun, catchy dance move that everyone can follow.
A: I liked VIXX’s “Shangri-La.”
A: BTS’s “Fake Love.”
Q: How long does it usually take to learn and master choreography?
A: It depends on every cover and members of the team. But usually [we either do] a rush cover, where we want to release it as soon as possible, we take maybe a week or a week and a half to practice. Then after that we coordinate renting the location, getting the outfits done [etc.]. So in total [it’s about] two weeks. For covers that are a little harder or that we think we need more time to [perfect], it’ll take about a month in total with practice and releasing it.
Q: What groups or artists, in your opinion, have the hardest choreography to learn?
A: BTS and NCT. With NCT, my body was so sore. “Cherry Bomb” killed all of our knees. GFRIEND is pretty hard, too.
Q: How do you all as a collective, decide on which dances you are going to cover?
A: When a song comes out, we put up a sign up sheet [since we have over 60 active members] and if we fill it up then we do it.
Q: If you could collaborate with any K-Pop group or artist, who would it be?
A: BTS. [Also] definitely NCT because I find their choreography so crazy so it’d be really cool [to work with them]. I think it would also be fun to have a big group like SEVENTEEN, and their dances are fun.
Q: Aside from K-Pop artists, are there any other dance crews or artists that you would like to collaborate with?
A: There’s so many. This dance group Risin’ Crew from France. I’d like to work with Koreos too. We met Ellen and Brian.
Q: The East2West YouTube channel is so close to getting one million subscribers, is there anything special planned that viewers can anticipate?
A: It’s in the making. We’re thinking about something [but] it’s secret. We’re going to try to make it for us, but also for the audience.
Q: Last question, are there any updates, information, or future plans that you would like to tell readers to look forward to in the coming future?
A: If you’re in the Montreal area, we’re going to be holding our three hour full length show in September, also look forward to one million and just keep subscribed and watching!
Be sure to follow the dance crew on social media and check out their latest covers!